Chapter 1254

The two drank until midnight and were both high. Ye Yaodong was still a bit sober and worried that he wouldn't be able to go back, so he asked the twins to help send him off, and by the way, asked someone to send that basket of sea urchins along.

The next day, when Fang Jingfu felt his pocket, he discovered that a form had appeared out of nowhere. It took him a long time to remember, and he felt a bit vigilant; he shouldn't stamp seals so casually in the future.

Fortunately, it was just this kind of harmless application form. If it were some important contract or something, wouldn't he be finished if he just stamped it?

It was just that he went over right after getting off work, so he still had the seal on him. This also gave him a wake-up call; he shouldn't carry it on him next time.

Ye Yaodong slept until the sun was high the next day and also felt a headache. He poured two bowls of boiled water and walked around the courtyard before he woke up.

The others took advantage of not having to work in the morning and had already run out to stroll around.

They hadn't had a chance to go out when they arrived yesterday, so of course they had to go out today to call their families and stroll around the surroundings.

Ye Yaodong thought the same. He had gotten up too early yesterday, there was no place to make a call, and he had returned too late, so he hadn't had time to call back to report that he was safe.

It wasn't his first time coming, and he had made several trips this year, so his family wouldn't worry that he hadn't called immediately to report he was safe.

It was just that when the old lady answered the phone, she kept nagging, telling him to call back more often to report he was safe, and not to be like yesterday, where he didn't even make a call after arriving.

After reporting he was safe, he went to the Fishery Association to report, submitted the villagers' application forms, and then submitted the suggestion he and Fang Jingfu had stamped.

Anyway, he had already let Fang Jingfu submit one copy, so he didn't care whether it was approved here or what the explanation was.

After finishing these, he saw that it wasn't long before off-work time, so he went to the Coast Guard Bureau entrance to wait for Zeng Weimin. He chatted with him along the way, talked about recent situations while walking, and then sent him home, and left him the specialties he brought and the sea urchins harvested yesterday.

Regardless of whether there was anything, he had to visit since he was here. The relationship must be maintained well, regardless of whether it could be used.

Refusing his offer of a meal, Ye Yaodong pedaled his bicycle back home.

After lunch, he set out to sea again without stopping. However, just as he arrived at the pier, he heard a group of people in twos and threes chattering about something in a language he couldn't understand.

He curiously pricked up his ears and listened for a long while, only understanding the words "suffocation" and "sea urchin."

He pulled out two cigarettes and asked someone about it, only to find out that someone had gone diving this morning to dig for sea urchins, but held their breath for too long, leading to hypoxia and loss of consciousness.

Fortunately, there were brothers on the boat who felt that the time spent was too long and something was wrong, and the tied rope kept sinking, so they hurriedly pulled the rope up and saved the person.

They said it was fortunate that when he went into the water, he took precautions and tied a rope to his waist, so they could pull him up. But because of air pressure problems and suffocation, he was also half-dead, and they didn't know if he would survive after being sent to the hospital.

After hearing this, he returned to his own boat.

"Boss, what are those locals discussing?"

"It feels like they're harboring evil intentions, they keep listening to 'sea urchin, sea urchin.' Are they eyeing our sea urchins..."

"No..."

Ye Yaodong told them about it, which made them sigh endlessly.

"This is the disaster caused by greed. They must have seen us harvesting a bunch of sea urchins yesterday."

"Let's go, don't worry about others. It's already very late to go out at this time..."

After finishing, he went to start the boat. The others were still discussing there, saying it was good to scare them, so no one would dare to have designs on the sea urchins.

They only worked for half a day today before finishing, but at least they earned the day's wages and food expenses.

With over a dozen mouths, the daily wages and food were a huge sum. Without accidents, they certainly couldn't rest, which was why he had set out to sea without stopping yesterday, and only spared half a day today to handle things.

The next few days were calm. Although some people on the pier were jealous that they harvested a large batch of sea urchins every day, they simply didn't have the ability to go into the water.

Some people also had designs on their fishing boat, but Ye Yaodong always kept people on duty to sleep on the boat. When the equipment wasn't in use, it was moved to the small cabin and locked up. No one knew how they went into the water, and they couldn't even inquire about it.

Moreover, in the past few days, jellyfish had started to surface intermittently on the sea surface, and the focus of some locals had shifted, and the topics of discussion had moved to jellyfish.

Of course, some had also moved to these out-of-towners, all wondering if these out-of-towners were going to run over in a large group again.

And then they could bring up last year's chaos.

The memory of the masses is short, but as long as it concerns themselves and happened around them, it is still fresh in their memory.

As jellyfish started to surface bit by bit, the pier became more and more lively, and more and more fishing boats lingered in the sea trench every day.

More and more fishing boats discovered that they were harvesting sea urchins here. It was just that Ye Yaodong's boat carried many people, and more than a dozen people stood on the full boat. The locals were also worried about the bloodshed last year and couldn't do anything about them, so they could only watch.

And the Ocean Bureau had also started to strengthen precautions recently. The law enforcement boats patrolling the sea also focused on this area, so Ye Yaodong could continue harvesting with peace of mind.

However, no matter how at ease he was, his mind was always on alert, guarding against the surrounding local boats. Fortunately, he didn't need to go into the water and could always keep an eye on things on the boat.

There were also some local boats trying to get close and asking questions, and he answered them politely and courteously.

Some people wanted to guard the surrounding area to harvest the jellyfish that surfaced intermittently, and he let them be. As long as they didn't interfere with each other, he didn't care about those that surfaced.

Until the beginning of the month, after the number of jellyfish gradually increased, fishing boats also increased, and they gradually shifted outward from around the mountain body.

After two or three consecutive years of harvesting, the sea urchins on the inner side had been cleared by everyone, and they could only gradually harvest along that trench outward, which just happened to avoid the gathering of more and more fishing boats inside.

However, he heard from the workers who went into the water that the further they shifted outward, the smaller the gaps in the sea trench became. The gaps on the inner side were relatively large, which was why the jellyfish were concentrated inside before, while there were fewer outside, and they could only rely on those drifting out from inside.

By the time they harvested further out, if the gaps in the sea trench became smaller, they wouldn't be able to fit two people, and they could only stand side-by-side, not back-to-back.

And looking at the increasingly smaller gaps, everyone was a bit afraid to go down again, because the length of the air tube was limited, and they couldn't go too deep. However, the current gaps could still accommodate them, and it wouldn't be too late to worry when the gaps became too small.

It was mainly because there was more equipment this year, and they had come to harvest in advance, so the efficiency was extremely fast. The daily harvest was two or three times that of last year, and six or seven times that of the year before last, so the speed of gradually shifting outward was also fast.

At the end of the month, Ye Yaodong also called back, but his father had gone out to sea and hadn't returned.

He could only leave a message with Aqing, telling his father not to go out to sea on the next trip. Then he calculated the time and made a call back on the 3rd, and his father finally answered.

Knowing that they had been preparing to come over for the past two days and would set off the day after tomorrow, and could arrive by the evening or night of the day after tomorrow, he felt relieved.

By the way, he also asked those who were on rotation at home to go out and inquire, helping them rent houses in advance.

After calculating the time, on the day after tomorrow, Ye Yaodong directly let the truck from the factory drive out to pick people up, because it wasn't just his father's boat; he also had to pick up his two older brothers, A Guang, and friends.

As for the others, there was really no way. He couldn't manage everyone, and one car couldn't carry one or two hundred people.

Most people had come last year, and some rented houses themselves later. Now that they had arrived, let them find the houses they rented last year and talk to the landlords.

After he distributed the fishing licenses issued by the Fishery Association to them and said a few words about paying attention to safety, he took away the people he wanted to pick up.

It was just that later, some people couldn't find a place to settle down and still wanted to find him. He directly opened the courtyard gate for everyone to see; floor mats had already been laid in his courtyard, and one by one they helplessly went to find others to seek shared rentals or help.

Ye Yaodong also knew that these were inevitable. Who told him to be the leader?

He himself brought 16 people over. Ye Fu didn't bring many people on this trip either, only 6 people including him on the Dongsheng. Counting it up, his small courtyard also accommodated 23 people, plus the twins, that made 25.

Fortunately, everyone just needed a place to lie down, and they weren't picky about anything.

As soon as Ye Fu arrived at the place, he took out his water pipe as soon as he sat down, and said while fiddling with stuffing tobacco.

"One by one, they were worried about whether there would be risks this year, but when the time came, they knew I was leaving, and they all followed quickly, and even brought all the relatives they could pull along."

"Let them arrange it themselves. I can't manage too much. Whether they earn or lose is up to fate. I'm not the God of Wealth, guaranteeing them profit."

"Hmm."

"How is it at sea now?"

"Not great, just like that?"

"What is 'like that'? What's the situation?"

"The local boats are all guarding that sea trench area. There are more boats than jellyfish, and no one is willing to leave, for fear of benefiting others."

Ye Fu paused, his brows furrowed, "Then what are you harvesting?"

"Fortunately, my efficiency has been high these past few days, and I've already shifted to the periphery, only harvesting my sea urchins. Plus, because more fishing boats have gathered, law enforcement boats have also driven over, supervising in the surroundings, and it looks much safer."

"Safe is safe, but with so many boats, it looks like we won't be able to make big money this year." Ye Fu smoked a few puffs of his water pipe, his mouth and nose puffing out air.

Ye Yaodong shrugged his shoulders and didn't speak. It was enough that the first batch of people to eat crab had already earned money. Let's see how it goes later.

After everyone settled down, one by one they immediately rubbed their hands and set out to sea early the next morning.

Who knew that the reality would give them a slap in the face.

When they arrived at the sea trench, it was really as Ye Yaodong said, it was all boats, densely packed with boats, even small wooden boats had been dragged over, a pile of big and small ones, so crowded they couldn't even squeeze in. There were more boats than jellyfish.

Ye Yaodong also gave up on going into the water to harvest sea urchins.

Today they only drove one small boat out. The situation was unclear, so there was no need to drive all the boats out.

The others also frowned and cursed on their respective boats.

"What the hell is there to work on..."

"Looks like we can only go trawling first..."

"Can only try our luck and go out to find some."

"Then... then I also brought several small boats out, what should I do?"

Ye Fu whispered to Ye Yaodong, "Like this, where could there still be jellyfish groups gathering?"

Ye Yaodong felt the same.

If you want jellyfish to gather in groups, you have to give them time to concentrate. If one is taken after another, how can it work?

It's like serving dishes, serving them one plate after another. With a table full of people, if the speed is a bit slow, one chopstick per person and it's gone. One plate is served and one plate is empty, and everyone is holding chopsticks waiting for the next plate.

But if the speed of serving dishes is fast, everyone rushes to eat, holding plates and rushing to scrape them into their own bowls, it's still an empty plate. How can there be dishes left on the table waiting to be eaten slowly?

"What should we do, Dongzi? We have so many people, the daily wages alone cost more than 100 yuan, and we still have to eat and drink..."

"There's nothing to do, let's see how it goes. Now that it's like this, you ask me and I have no way either. I can't conjure up a method, and I can't kill this group of people to clear up space."

"Those who followed out this year should be slapping their thighs in regret."

"Let's go back. Staying here is meaningless. Let's go home and rest first. Those who need to report they are safe, go back and make a call to report you are safe."

"Fine."

Ye Fu felt that staying here was meaningless.

The workers on the boat looked at me and I looked at you, and for a moment they were a bit at a loss. Could it be that they wouldn't earn wages and would just head home directly?

People on other boats were even more uneasy.

So much so that when they saw Ye Yaodong turn around and leave, they all panicked. He was the backbone, after all. If he left, how could everyone stay in place?

One fishing boat after another hurriedly followed him back.

Just as he docked, everyone else followed him back. As soon as they got ashore, they surrounded him, asking for ideas in a jumble.

However, what ideas could Ye Yaodong have?

He only let everyone go back and talk later. At this time, people were coming and going on the shore, all looking at them.

A large group of people followed behind him, scaring the locals away, pointing at them.

"Adong, what should we do now? So many boats are all gathered there, we can't harvest either..."

"Yeah, what should we do? This year I even specially borrowed money to buy a boat and hired people. What should I do now..."

"Why are there so many boats? Why didn't you say anything when you called back a few days ago..."

Ye Yaodong looked at the person who spoke, "Can the situation be the same every day? The fishing season is coming, goods are starting to increase, and of course there are more boats every day. It's not a guaranteed profit. Since you decided to follow, you have to bear the risks of following."

"It's fine if you don't earn money, but what if someone dies? Or gets locked up? How was it last year? Most people saw it in their eyes. The locals and the people in town were so miserable, yet you all dared to follow this year. What else is there to say now?"

He didn't retort, just said words that left people speechless in a flat tone.

"Then... then what should we do?"

"There's nothing to do. Harvest according to the situation. Harvest as you should. If you think there are too many monks and too little porridge, and it's not worth it to compete with so many people, then drive the boat to trawl and wait until the peak season. Small boats can also catch some by rowing around the coast, and you won't lose money either. You decide for yourselves."

Everyone looked at me and I looked at you.

"Then, what do you plan to do?"

"Let the large boats go trawling, and come back to harvest after trawling for a few days."

"Oh..."

Everyone whispered and discussed countermeasures in his courtyard.

And the owners of the Fengshou, Shunfeng, and Mancang boats also ran to his side to inquire.

Ye Yaodong said the same thing, letting his father drive the Dongsheng and take their three boats out to sea to trawl. He would drive the fresh-catch collection boat and go out to sea to collect goods every other day, and by the way, bring news.

Neither side is delayed, and they can maximize benefits under current circumstances, not lose money but earn money, and utilize all the boats so they won't be idle.

This was also what he thought about on the way back. You can't just watch like this; you have to find a way to earn money first.

Zhou Da, the boss of the Mancang, understood and echoed, "That works too. As long as it's not just sitting there and watching, with so many mouths to feed."

Ye Yaopeng and Father Pei also echoed that they had no opinion. They had to earn money first before talking about other things.

They themselves were also the people who ate the first bite of crab, and they were also mentally prepared. No matter how bad it is to earn money this year, they won't lose too much.

After they finalized this side, he didn't care about the others and let everyone discuss and arrange it themselves.

After all, the types of fishing boats were different, and the choices would certainly be different.

However, most people chose to go trawling at night. At worst, they would come back to see the situation after dawn.

And those small wooden boats brought out by relatives and friends could only try their luck and harvest some around the coast.

After they decided how to arrange it, they shook their heads one after another and sighed as they went out from Ye Yaodong's house.

His courtyard also instantly emptied, and it wasn't so noisy anymore. Only a few close relatives and friends remained.

Ye Fu frowned and said, "Dongzi, do you think it would be better for those people to go back directly? To save money from losing."

"Since they've already come, how could they go back empty-handed and let people laugh at them? They have to watch the situation for a few days at least."

Ye Fu didn't say much more.

Ye Yaodong looked at A Guang, "You just arrived yesterday, and everyone was busy arranging things, so there was no time to talk. Your father also came. What about your stepmother?"

"My father is worried about the situation here, and I have to collect goods. My younger brother is not big yet, so he still has to follow over to help drive the Fengshou. Auntie Ma can only entrust her two married daughters to take turns coming over to look after her."

"Oh, is she about to give birth?"

"Yes, soon, next month."

"Really good at giving birth."

A Guang didn't express an opinion.

They only stayed for a short while before leaving. They also had to find a place to call back to report they were safe first.

At night, the fishing boats of these out-of-towners all went out to sea to trawl. Only Ye Yaodong and the people he brought remained at home, and they would go out to sea to see the situation the next day.

It was just that when he returned at noon, he suddenly heard A Guang say that Uncle Zheng had decided to drive a boat with his friends to Zhoushi after returning yesterday.

Ye Yaodong was surprised, "Zhoushi? Are they going with just their two boats?"

"Yes, the few small boats in their village wanted to stay here and wait and see, so they didn't follow. Just he and his friend drove the boat and went, saying that staying here felt meaningless."

"Oh..."

Ye Fu asked curiously, "What are they catching over there at this time? Isn't it said that there are only shrimp skins when it's cold? Didn't Old Zheng and his friend catch shrimp skins up there before?"

"Yes, they said that up there are the four famous fishing grounds in the country. The ones catching shrimp skins are in Shenjia Sect. They plan to go to the Zhoushi fishing ground."

"I often hear them talk about it. Your father was almost persuaded to go."

A Guang nodded, "Yes, he also came to find my father after returning yesterday, but my father was a bit hesitant. Thinking that I have to be here, he didn't follow. Otherwise, he really wanted to follow and take a look. He has always heard them brag about how good it is up there, and it just happens that it looks like we can't make big money here now."

Ye Yaodong was also moved when he heard it. He knew about the Zhoushi fishing ground; it is one of the four largest fishing grounds in our country.

However, in his previous life, when he was a boat worker, he went to the South China Sea to fish and didn't go up. After all, he was working for others, so he had no say. Wherever he went, he was just working. The boat boss said where to go, so he went.

"How long does it take to drive from here?"

"They said it takes a day and a night."

Ye Fu gasped, "That long?"

"Yes."

Ye Yaodong asked, "Then they went over temporarily, so if you want to call and ask about the situation, you can't contact them?"

"I copied a phone number from the Youdian Bureau. Uncle Zheng and my father agreed to call at 4 PM three days later. My father asked me to wait at the Youdian Bureau in advance by then. He was afraid that if their two boats went out, they would lose contact and he wouldn't know. Agreeing on a time to call is safer. Otherwise, if something happens, their family will definitely ask my father."

"That's still okay. After all, you came out together, but their two boats ran to another place."

"That's how it is. By the way, inquire and see if they are earning money up there."

"Then wait until then to ask. They set off at night, so it is estimated that they will arrive tonight. After two days at sea, they should know the local fishing situation."

Ye Yaodong knew that in his previous life, Father Pei was persuaded by Uncle Zheng to go up there, and later he even took his whole family and left.

"Let's see. You can't just hear that the fishing situation up there is good, and then abandon the jellyfish here and follow them, right?"

"That's not impossible."

Ye Yaodong touched his chin. With the scale of the Dongsheng, going to Zhoushi is no problem. Plus, isn't there a fresh-catch collection boat?

They came out to earn money in the first place. It looks like it's a bit hard to earn here now, so isn't it reasonable to change to a place where it's easier to earn money?

It's just a bit far, hard to grasp, and the risks that need to be borne are a bit greater. If there isn't enough profit, it's not worth making the trip, and it's better to just stay here.

With a fresh-catch collection boat, he can still earn more than everyone else. It's better than the top but better than the bottom, which is enough for him to earn.

A Guang looked at his thoughtful expression and was a bit surprised, "Are you serious?"

"No, I'm just saying, unless I can earn big money, earn more than here, otherwise why would I abandon the near and seek the far?"

"To tell you the truth, didn't you see that I drove a fresh-catch collection boat over? I'm preparing..."

"Ah? You also drove a fresh-catch collection boat over?"

"Are you blind? Didn't you see that big boat parked at the pier?"

"What the hell do I know? When you came, my feet had just landed, and I only knew you had left the next day. You didn't drive that fresh-catch collection boat yesterday either, so how would I know that boat was yours?"

"Fine."

Ye Yaodong told him about his plan to use the fresh-catch collection boat to collect jellyfish from the whole village.

A Guang couldn't help but give a thumbs up after hearing it. His ideas were indeed always one step ahead, and more wonderful year by year.

He had already foreseen that those who learned from him to build small boats this year would almost all be eating dirt.

Ye Yaodong smiled and slapped away his thumb, "There are too many fishing boats now, and there are more monks than porridge, so we can only earn a little bit according to the situation."

"It's good for you like this. At least our local boats can stay there all the time and harvest continuously, while the local boats have to return to sell goods according to the situation. After all, if it takes too long, the jellyfish will turn into water. They can be stored longer after being pickled, but how much effort does it take at sea? And you have to spend money to buy salt and alum to fiddle with it."

"Let's see, it's hard to say now."

"Sigh, looking at it, you are still the biggest winner."

"When Uncle Zheng calls back, ask more, and understand the situation more. With so many boats here now, it certainly won't last long before they have to disperse to harvest. If we can earn big money up there, it's not bad for us to follow up and have support."

"Then when you go the day after tomorrow, go with me to answer the phone, and ask whatever you want to ask clearly."

"I have to drive the fresh-catch collection boat out to sea to collect goods the day after tomorrow. I might not be free at that time point. I guess I have to sell goods?"

"Then fine, let's wait until the day after tomorrow to talk."

"Hmm."

Now only these idle people are at home. Those who can seize the opportunity to earn money have all gone out to sea to seize the opportunity to earn money. A Guang was bored alone, and only by staying here could he have a companion.

However, at night, he still had to go back to watch the house and watch the luggage.

Ye Yaodong only went out to sea to check the situation in the morning these two days. Looking at the sparse jellyfish, they disappeared in a flash before they could show their heads. There had already been several quarrels on the sea surface. If it weren't for the law enforcement boats being nearby and everyone being cautious, they would probably have fought again.

He watched it all, stayed until around noon, and then came back.

These two days, even the boat workers were a bit restless. Resting wasn't peaceful, and it wasn't as solid as having work to do.

When he counted the people and wanted to take people to drive the fresh-catch collection boat out to sea to collect goods, the boat workers felt at ease. Having work to do made them feel that this money could be earned for a few more days.

If they kept resting, they might have to head home, and the high wages they expected would shrink immediately.

"It's good that we drove the fresh-catch collection boat out, everyone can still have some work..."

"Yeah, my heart is up and down, just worried that we will go back now, and haven't earned wages for a few days..."

Ye Yaodong also knew that they were a bit uneasy these two days, worried that he would lose money here and their wages would shrink, so he comforted them.

"Rest assured, the agreed wages won't change. Even if you don't work after coming out, wages are still calculated. I won't renege, just stay at ease. I can at least hold on longer than others here."

"Haha, right, right, right..."

"Yeah, haha, otherwise why would everyone want to follow you? Those who followed others last year all took the initiative to come to your door this year to follow you. Isn't it because they see that following you is the safest and most reliable."

"Thank you all for your trust. Rest early tonight, we'll go out to sea at dawn."

"Good..."